Blacklight
by Amethyst Soul
Summary: Part 4 is up... and the story is complete. It's the future (wow, isn't that original?) and Dib thinks he's won the war. Or is it at a price? Warnings are: angst, ZAGR, violence.
1. Part One: White Room

A/N: Okay, okay, I HAVE finished this particular story already, and I'm almost done with the last chapter to 'Keep Your Distance'. This had to be written. Lemme just say, I was in an extremely, EXTREMELY bad mood yesterday. Nothing went well at all, and I literally wanted to destroy everything. Instead, I picked up a pencil, some paper, and started writing out this fic. The rest of it will be put up tonight, depending if I can transfer it from paper to computer in that amount of time. Orignally 'An Orange In An Apple Tree'... don't ask me WHY I named it so... Anyway... um... enjoy? And sorry, also, because Dib may seem OOC. I just felt like I needed to relate to someone, and Dib happened to be the first person to pop into my mind. Of course, I was in a bad mood so...  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Jhonen's characters, but the ones that will show up later I do own. You can take all of them except Darla! Darla is mine! Heh. You'll find out.   
  
  
Blacklight  
  
Part One: White Room  
  
Gaz laid down on the couch in the middle of the room, sighing as her body slowly sank into the comforting pillows, and smiling. She gazed up at the ceiling, silently thumbing her fingers through her hair, which looked more indigo than anything else in the dim light. Then she yawned and stretched out on the couch, and found an interesting button on her nightgown to play with.  
"Today is a restful day," she mumbled under her breath, before turning sideways into the golden sunlight that had begun to flood the room, closed her eyes, and fell asleep, resting before the morning's usual rush of busy activity.  
  
*****Three Months Earlier*****  
  
There were bright lights, illuminating the entire room. It seemed even brighter from the reflection of the metal that lined the floor of the room, which reflected the piercing emanation off of it. The room was clean, for the most part. If one were to smell the air, it would produce that sense of a sterile, hospital smell. For the most part, everything was white, excluding the floors, and the walls, which were made entirely out of some black, shiny substance that wasn't recognizable.  
Red, shining eyes gazed toward the ceiling, but the lights were so bright that all that could be seen were the beams of light. Was there even a ceiling? He couldn't tell. His eyes fell to the floor again, to the emptiness- lack the small table on the side. He pressed his head against his round glass encasing, trying to see more closely and rid himself of his distorted view.  
But then again... did he truly want to see what was there? He pushed himself back to the center of the tube and just... floated there. It wasn't from lack of gravity. It was from the atmosphere... which was more liquid than gaseous. It was something Zim couldn't recognize- and he didn't want to. A bluish substance that for one dreading moment he thought was water when he first open his eyes in this torturous cell. He had thrashed wildly until he realized that he wasn't burning. Feeling foolish, he stopped.  
Another thought was that he'd be suffocated. But he breathed deeply in and looked down, realizing that his inhalation organs had been attached to some sort of breathing apparatus which led outside of the tube. Of course he wouldn't suffocate. His death wouldn't be that easy. That had been a promise.  
Zim floated there, relaxing his shoulders, trying to sleep. He closed his eyes and instantly a million flashes from the... occurrence... flared across his memory. He shut his eyes tighter, trying to block out the recollection, trying to forget the flood of pain that had come so suddenly in place of his happiness. He clenched his fist and in anger open his eyes and slammed his fist against the side of the tube, yet no avail came from doing so. He rested his head against his glass, his antennae brushing lightly against the prison-like walls. His eyes rested against the table again, and this time he could see it more clearly, now that his face was at another angle. So many sharp objects...  
Zim bit his lip, and a metallic taste from whatever liquid he was floating in flooded the taste buds of his sharp Irken tongue. He pushed himself out and tried to block his mind again, closing his eyes. He knew that the no-gravity feeling of the chamber he was in was only so that he couldn't feel the aches and pains so easily. He'd been fully introduced to forms of torture before. They were getting him relaxed, so that when the pain did come, he wouldn't be prepared.  
Those damned humans had finally done it. Zim bit harder on his lip and clenched his fist. He felt betrayed. Hell, he'd *been* betrayed. If he was every let out of here, he'd get his revenge...  
No. Not the kind of revenge he wanted. He couldn't. He just... could never. But he would get his revenge. Revenge on the one who had most likely been behind the betrayal. A grip of pain clenched his inner alien organs as he remembered. If he had just been taken care of so many years before... none of this would have happened. He'd still have everything. He'd still be someone.  
Now he was a lab rat. A prime example of a failure, who had let his feelings get in the way of everything. He wanted to tell himself never again, but he wouldn't have a second chance.  
Outside the tube, a huge metal door opened up from the floor, and on a platform rose three people, all in white coats. One female, two male. The female had long, dirty blonde hair, and cold, almond shaped eyes the color of coal. She carried a note pad wore thin wire glasses.  
Beside her stood the other two scientists, both who Zim knew well. The first was Dib- how could he forget? The jet black hair hadn't changed, it still sat atop his head like a scythe on a stick. His skin was still pale, and though he had increased in height but thinned in body frame, Zim knew all too well he was stronger than he looked. He rubbed the bruise on his face as if to display this knowledge.  
The man that stood next to Dib was much older, but still had his somewhat similar features. The scythe-like hair, though his stood atop a balding head and was bent. The pale skin, though his had begun to wrinkle from old age. And the menacing glare that had crossed his face when he first entered the room and laid his eyes on Zim.  
"Fascinating..." the woman spoke as she spotted the Irken in the tube in front of her. Her eyes scanned Zim as she approached him, examining his alien anatomy and contrasting them with that of humans.  
Zim only watched as the other two approached, now. He did not care for the female scientist- he didn't know her and she was not of his concern. What was his concern were the two Membrane filth whose place in the room sent his blood boiling. His eyes shot to Dib, who was speaking, now. Zim gave him an icy glare, but Dib only smiled and continued talking. He couldn't hear what was being said, no matter how much he strained to hear, so he only locked his eyes onto Dib's.  
"We need to do this quickly," Dib was saying to his father and the woman. He exchanged glares with Zim and smiled. "I'm interested in finding out what exactly happened."  
"I agree," Professor Membrane said. "Not on the interest part-" he shot his son a look, "But on the fact that I would like to get this done soon. I want to find Gaz."  
Dib was about to grumble a response to that but decided not to. He turned to the woman- Laura, and she glanced back with fascinated eyes.  
"Amazing!" she breathed, glancing back at the alien excitedly. "This is a rare find indeed. I want to study this creature... what did you say his name was?"  
"His name is Zim," Dib said, walking up to the glass tube and tapping it with his finger.  
Zim cringed as a sudden sharp pounding resounded in the chamber he was in. He looked down to see Dib mocking him, tapping the glass but at the same time setting out a series of sound waves that grew increasingly in the liquid-like substance. It was like a hammering to his head- only worse. He thrashed wildly in the tube, kicking the sides of it and clawing the liquid, trying to find a way out.  
"A strong little thing, isn't he?" Laura commented upon his reaction, pushing her glasses up further on her face.  
"Stop that," Membrane ordered Dib. "We're here to study him, not taunt." He pushed a button on a control pad at the side of the tube, exciting electric particles in the tube and setting of a silent but jolting reaction through the entire liquid compound. Zim instantly ceased thrashing and hovered there, disabled. He turned to Dib. "Get out the laboratory table. The other scientists are due here in an hour, and we don't have the equipment ready."  
Dib did as he was told, looking back at the unconscious Irken and wishing he could have done more damage than that. He wanted Zim dead, for more reasons than the fact that he had wanted to take over Earth. Zim had done something much, much worse and it was time for him to pay the price.  
"Patience," Dib told himself as he set up the metal table in the center of the room. "Once the examination is finished, I can torture him all I want." 


	2. Part Two: This Was The Moment

A/N: Ok. Sorry for the name change, but it was REALLY getting on my nerves. There was a point to that name, and it'll show up later in the story. There's more ZAGR here... but you were warned. Oh! Thank you to DanniB, for being my 200th overall review. Yay! And thank to you Steve, for telling me what that stupid 'sucky thingy with the tube on the end and the small little holding... cup-like thing at the top that they use in science class to suck up water and chemicals and stuff' was. ^.^  
  
Part Two: This Was The Moment  
  
He was with her again.  
She pressed her body forward into his, wrapping her arms around him, softly nibbling his lower lip. Then she moved her hands in a way that sent a tremor up his spine, and Zim could not help but smile.  
"Gaz..."  
Shaking her head, she put a finger to his lips and commenced in connecting their mouths again, stroking her tongue softly against his. He wrapped his hands around her waist and moved them up and down, returning the kiss as he did so. He inhaled deeply and his kissing moved from her mouth to her check, then down to the neck area. She playfully rubbed her fingers through his two antennae and then gently massaging his shoulders.  
"Zim," she said, but the voice seemed so far away. He continued kissing her neck but Gaz smoothly pushed him in the shoulder, "Zim," she murmured again, and this time he stopped and their eyes met.  
She blushed and smiled, and then grasped his hand. "It is getting late. You should go before Dib gets home."  
Zim shook his head, exasperated. "We really shouldn't be tiptoeing around your brother."  
She uttered a laugh and rolled her eyes. "Oh, and you think that making out right in front of him will solve our problem? He still hates you, you know. The way he talks about defeating you... the detail he goes into... it's quite disturbing."  
Zim tightened his grip around her and shrugged. "So he talks about dissecting me, cutting me open in front of a million people to see and then sewing me back together again while I'm still alive and conscious enough to feel every nerve being pulled and shocked beyond pain itself. That's nothing new."  
"You don't understand, Zim," Gaz said in a serious, low voice, standing up and pulling Zim by the hand out the door, handing him his hairpiece as she did so. "You've known my brother for a long time- you know how he doesn't give up."  
"I am not afraid of your brother."  
Gaz stopped, and a look of worry crossed her face. She gave his hand a squeeze and then looked Zim straight in the eye. "I'm serious, Zim. Now is not the time for your Irkenian-"  
"Irken," he corrected.  
She rolled her eyes and nodded. "Now is not the time for your *Irken* pride. We're at a critical point, here. My brother's made some powerful friends-"  
"Those scientists?!" Zim snorted. "Please. Even G.I.R. could defeat those idiots." Her stern face did not leave, however and he sighed. "But if it should make you happy... all right. I will be more careful about hiding our... agreement."  
A smile spread across her face and she gave him a quick kiss as they backed out the door. "Thank you, Zim," she said, after they had pulled out into the night and were finally able to breathe in the fresh air. She gave his moonlit face a light stroke and then walked back inside.  
He turned, smiling to himself. Though he did look forward to the day when he would be able to see the shocked expression on his rival's face once he had found out exactly *what* he had been doing in his spare time- and it wasn't plotting to take over Earth.  
Making sure his hairpiece was secured atop his head, he walked off into the darkness. Speaking of the subject...  
Behind Zim, a pair of dark eyes glinted under the cast of the moonlight. Their carriers waited until Zim was fully out of site before standing up, dusting off his trench coat, and opening the door to his house.  
"Gaz..." he sneered under his breath, and then slammed the door behind him.  
  
-*-*-*-  
  
Zim awoke to a bright beam of light, shining directly on his face. The white light flooded his eyes and he cringed at the intensity. What was WITH all the bright lights in this place?  
He found himself looking straight up at the ceiling. They had taken him out of the tube and out of the filthy liquid and put him someplace else. But where?  
There was nothing but an intangible silence around him. Was there a buzzing noise over in the furthest corner? And voices, directly above? He couldn't tell. Instead, he let his mind wander to the dream that had just had. It was the last time he had seen Gaz...  
After that night, they had come. Destroyed his house and captured him easily. At the front was Dib. Dib, who knew everything. Dib, who would stop at nothing to make sure that Zim would pay the ultimate price for toying with his sister's emotions.  
He did not go directly to the place he was in now. No... first, they had screened him. Stripped him of all the dignity he had just to prove the human Dib was right. And then he was forced into a cataleptic dream, and now he was here...  
His body felt like a huge weight, every inch of his skin forcing him down as though it were pounds heavier than they truly were. He closed his eyes, as the light was beginning to bother and produce a severe headache in him. He attempted to move, but it was really of no use. His own... body was weighing him down?  
"Like it?" a voice asked from across the room.  
Zim cursed under his breath. So his mind was not playing tricks on him. He had never been alone. Dib had simply stood there the entire time, watching him struggle. Leering at his pain.   
"It's some technology we picked up over the years," the voice continued. Zim followed the voice with his eyes, knowing that Dib was somewhere near him but unable to pinpoint an exact location. His head was throbbing, now, and he couldn't figure out why.  
The voice uttered a laugh, and came closer to Zim. "That was an interesting dream you had, Zim. Very interesting."  
Zim froze and his inner organs felt as they had suddenly lurched forward. "Wh... what?" His throat was scratchy and his voice sounded hoarse, most likely from not speaking for so long.  
Dib laughed, now, a laugh that was not at all pleasant. "Stuttering now, aren't we, Zim?" he asked as he fasted his lab coat around him and then walked over to the metal table on the other side of the room. The entire room was too dark to see from Zim's perspective, but Dib, having the advantage of the light pointing directly as Zim and not himself, could see quite well. His hands felt across the table to where a pair of rubber gloves were. Quickly, he pulled them on over his hands and then walked eagerly back to the table where Zim was. "It's all quite simple, really. You do feel that pounding feeling in your head, don't you?" He didn't wait for Zim to nod- he knew- and continued walking toward him. "There's a small electronic device- the size of a pen- connected to your brain waves. We wanted to test it out to make sure it was working right for your..." he laughed, "Examination."  
Zim felt a slight tug at the back of his neck, and saw Dib grabbing hold of a long black wire that was connected to some... machine of some sort. He held it up. "This is where they go, to be transmitted into light and sound waves into this machine," he gestured to it, "and then to a visual composition here," he gestured toward a large video screen that sat atop the machine. "I turned it off... for now. It can only handle so much information," Dib grinned down at his enemy... his /defeated/ enemy... searching his eyes for the pain from his rival that would satisfy his desires.  
"This is low for you, human," Zim managed to say, finally. "All this... and you still had to call in reinforcements to capture me. What, you couldn't do the dirty work yourself?"  
"Hardly," Dib scoffed, but Zim could see that he had struck an open wound. Dib said no more, so he stood there in silence too, seeing it useless to go on. Trying to make himself busy, and feeling the need to scare the hell out of Zim, he took upon the gratuitous task of organizing the table with all the metal devices.  
An era of time seemed to pass from their silence, when voices from behind the closed door seemed to come closer, and closer.  
"It looks as though our scientist friends have arrived," Dib said, giving Zim a regard of close scrutiny. He became excited, knowing this was his moment that he had worked so hard for. So many years... ever since that first day in class when he pointed out the truth, and everyone else was so blind that they couldn't see it. So many years... and it was worth every one of them if it meant Zim's inevitable defeat.  
The door opened, and a large amount of humans, all in white lab coats, filed into the room, gasping upon their site of Zim and instantly talking in hushed whispers as he approached him. They all remained in the darkness, however, halting their advance at the exact place where the beam of the one bright light had ended.  
The door finally closed, and two figures stepped forward into the light, joining Dib. Zim recognized them from earlier. One of them must have made a gesture of some sort at that moment, because everyone in the room quieted down in unison.  
A sharp pinprick came from the back of his neck, at the same place where he felt the chip. Some sort of liquid flooded into his bloodstream. Was it some sort of numbing substance? Something to put him to sleep? He felt no change, whatsoever.  
Dib grinned over at Zim's bewilderment. The liquid, in fact, was none of what he had most likely assumed. Only an elixir which would better help the process of examining his thoughts. He glanced up at his father as he put the syringe away, and felt a beam of pride swell up within him. /Finally/ he had been paid attention to. /Finally/, his dad actually recognized his existence. Ever since Dib had proved to the world what Zim was, he and his dad had become closer. They had talked face to face. They even had a conversation before that lasted longer than a minute. Imagine! If only... if only Gaz had not been so naïve. They could have been a family again. His face flushed with anger and he grabbed at any tool he could find, holding it up under the glint of the light.  
"Hold on there, son," Membrane said, and taking the sharp metal out of his hand. "Use that and there won't be any of Zim left to examine."  
The crowd of scientists laughed at this, and Dib blushed slightly, thankful for the poor lighting. Remembering to fasten his surgeon's mask on first, he instead took another tool, and handed a large pipette to Laura as she finished putting her mask on. "You might want to take samples of his blood, to examine later," he said through a muffled voice.  
Laura nodded and gratefully took the pipette into her hands, walking slowly over to Zim's right.  
Zim blinked, hearing the clicking of her slightly heeled soles across the floor. Even if he could move, he wouldn't, because the terror that had welled up inside of him for so long, the fear of this exact place, it was clutching every part of him now. This was the moment that he had feared the most. The moment that could have been evaded... if only she hadn't stopped to talk to him that one day. If only he hadn't talked back. If only they hadn't been so compatible.  
Dib grinned over at Zim, taking a small sharp knife from the table. This was the moment that kept him sleeping each night. The moment, that had fueled his anger, his pain, every emotion over the long years except for defeat. Having this moment right here crushed his feelings of defeat altogether.  
He lowered the blade into Zim's chest, beginning from just under his neck area and slowly dragging it down to the waist area. He kept his eyes on Zim the entire time, seeing him flinch in pain, biting his lip nervously and trying not to scream.  
A dark blue blood flowed out of him, and Laura was quick to take samples of it using the pipette. Professor Membrane soon joined his son by his side, taking a pair of tools that would hold open the gash Dib had made inside of Zim.  
Zim could only look up at the ceiling, breathing softly. The pain in his chest, the feeling of exposure- he was able to stand all of them. Then the pain increased, as if his entire chest was being ripped open. He jerked and closed his eyes, biting his lip further and in response of tasting his own blood knew that he had broken the skin on it. He laid his head back and tried to think of something better.  
  
"Gaz..." he heard himself say. "I wish things could be different but they can't. We're not... you're not like me."  
"Shut up, Zim!" she had snapped back. "Does that really matter? Or are you too arrogant to see that it's your own pride holding you back, not our species?"  
The voice sounded like an echo to the present Zim. He shut his eyes tighter, and he could see the mental image now.  
They were in the park, and it was a particularly cold day. The morning fog had just rolled in, so thick it could be sliced with a butter knife. He was thankful for paste, but at that moment it was the furthest thing from his mind.  
They were both sitting on a park bench, one on one end, the other on the other. Gaz crossed her arms huffily- or maybe it was out of coldness- he didn't know. Nevertheless, the glared over at Zim. "You never wanted this in the first place. It was just a game to you. A game to get back at Dib."  
"NO!" he had yelled, exasperated. Again, that sense of an echo rung in the present Zim's ears, but he didn't care. This was his dream. His way to escape reality- by being in a better one. "Well... at first, yes. But not now. Now, I..."  
"You what?" she said, crossing her legs on the bench and smirking at him. He lowered his head, unable to go any further, and she shook her head, exasperated. She stood up off the bench. "Like I said. It had always been a game to you."  
"No... Gaz, that's not true and you damn well know it," he sneered. He stood up and took her hands into his. "Now, I care about you and I don't give a crap what Dib thinks."  
"So what do you think, Zim?" she had asked coolly. The wind blew, whipping her hair around a bit. Beyond their position, the mist collected around them, curling around the trees that surrounded them, and the bench. No one could see them, but they could see each other. They stood there in their calm silence, and then Zim had-  
  
An acute pain in his lower abdomen broke him away from the memory. He opened his eyes, seeing a muffled laughter arising from the scientists in the darkness beyond. His eyes snapped up to the video screen, which had just begun to fade to black as his own memory faded. Damn you! he thought shrilly, and his own voice broke through the screen and he heard his own voice again. Like an echo.  
Dib mumbled something, and a shocking pain ripped through his entire body. What were they doing? His chest heaved up and down as he struggled to breathe; a sort of drunken dizziness swirled around his head. A scream escaped him as he felt his insides being torn apart, exposed to the Earthen atmosphere, the utensils poking and prodding at every inch of his body.  
The human would /pay/, Zim growled, not caring that the thought was heard. Dib glanced sharply up at the screen as a series of flashback memories crossed it.  
Every moment of defeat, every point of humiliation- Zim was there to see it and remember about it. In his own moment of defeat, the only thing that kept him alive was remembrance about his moments of victory. Saving Earth, just so he could destroy it again. The meaningless battles that a younger he and Dib had engaged, which grew into more costly and violent battles as they grew.  
"STOP IT!" Dib screamed at him, but the voice was far away. And so was the pain that ensued. He could hear himself scream but let himself lie back into a drowsy sleep, letting memory after memory come. Dib, being rejected at skool for his belief in the very real paranormal. Dib, being ridiculed even as he got older. Dib, Dib, Dib. Enough of Dib!  
Zim let his mind wander to the misty day in the park, with Gaz. He had leaned in, and the two engaged in a kiss that said everything. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and he had smiled, brushing his own against her face and then down to her waist. They closed in the distance between themselves as they kissed, destroying any barriers that were there.  
Dib, upon seeing this, cursed under his breath and frantically snatched a tool out of his father's hand, applying it quickly. Jerking slightly at this, Zim could feel his inner cardiovascular organs pumping, harder and harder. His breath became raspy and each gulp of air became more and more necessary to live. A sweat had broken out onto his skin, and his eyes, focusing on nothing at all but the ceiling above, dimmed to a black darkness every once in a moment, and then he would be shocked awake again. And then...  
Darkness. Was it all over? Was it finally finished? No. Zim still wasn't alone, for they were all in darkness. The bright beam of light focused on Zim shut off, and all at once, the scientists burst into a state of confusion. A scream could be heard from far away- was it his own? He couldn't tell. But he could feel himself moving, the pain only increasing as the wound was worsened. He felt himself being held, being cared for. His mind reverted back to the times he and Gaz had spent together. Even... even though she had betrayed him. Seeing her alone would make his death worthwhile.  
Zim fell unconscious, and let himself be taken away into the darkness. 


	3. Part Three: An Orange In An Apple Tree

A/N: The way this chapter came out was all wrong. Please forgive it for sucking so badly... but after messing with it for so long I just decided to get the thing up. Anyway, the next chapter will be much better. I promise. And yes, the next chapter is the last chapter. And yes, the title to this part is the old title for the story, but there's a reason I used it.   
  
Part Three: An Orange In An Apple Tree  
  
She was lying across the bed, eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling. The sheets were tattered and thrown across the floor, and now all that lay across the bare old mattress was a pillow, and a girl strewn across it, her purple hair in a wild mess atop her head, clutching her dark green robe closed like a hawk's talons around it's prey.  
Her eyes were red, but if anyone were there, they would not be able to see that, for they were closed. The moon did not touch her face, nor any part of her, instead it cast its' glow in the floor of the room, as if it was giving her some odd sort of respect... allowing her to be alone in the dark.  
She drew in a deep breath, soaking in the silence and the darkness. To the side was a diary, with every page, back to front, filled to the brim with words. The ink was freshly written, but most of it was written with such anguish, it was illegible, even to her. The book was tossed carelessly on the desk next to her bed.  
Downstairs, an old grandfather's clock counted away the seconds until midnight. At that one moment, all three hands were perfectly aligned, and the clock erupted in it's usual chiming, this time the resounding cry that echoed throughout the entire house, carrying itself through the walls and halls of the ancient residence until it was registered by anyone who would listen, a more hollow chime than usual.  
Gaz opened her eyes and then shut them immediately, groaning as an acute pain in her chest shot through her. Her eyes had crusted from crying for so long, and apparently she hadn't finished crying because a sob escaped her momentarily. She sighed, trying to close her eyes again, to let sleep conquer her again so that she wouldn't have to feel the pain, but it was to no avail.  
Her eyes shot open, and she stood up, looking at the clock. They would have taken him to the examination room by now. Her fist clenched at the thought people she couldn't even call family anymore. To call them monsters would be a defamation of character to the monsters themselves. She tossed off the robe, feeling the cold air brush against her bare skin, and welcoming this only comfort. She threw open a window and let even colder air rush up against her, and shivered at the sudden chill, gazing up to the sky as the moon shied away from her.  
She inhaled deeply, feeling the moisture, and observed the thick cumulonimbus silhouettes that slowly danced across the sky, swirling in a mist of confusion and murky gloom. Yes... it was coming. She glanced at the moon's height just as it disappeared as though in shame, nodding to herself, pursing her lips together. It was also time.  
Her eyes swiftly searched across the room, as she suddenly felt the imminent storm against her bare chest. She needed something to wear. She glanced blankly around the room, her eyes settling on something comfortable, and, after grabbing the wrinkled cotton black dress from off the floor, pulled it on. Then she grabbed her long, belle-like cloak, and draped it over herself. Pushing up the hood, she clambered downstairs to grabbed her shoes, not giving the diary, or anything else another thought. She left the door open as she walking out into the night.  
Her face was hidden by the hood of her cloak, and if anyone could catch a glimpse, it was only by fault of the wind, which blew mercilessly through the small town in preparation. She finally stopped as she reached her destination.  
Off in the distance, a huge clanking sound could be heard, as Gaz struggled to push open the doors that hid the old machinery. It was the one place that her brother or her father hadn't been able to find, because it was nowhere near his home base. Zim had taken her here many times... it was quiet, and they would be alone. Despite the shabbiness of it, because it seemed to conceal them from the world, Gaz found a certain emotional attachment to the place. And even... a sort of liking.  
Once the doors had opened, there was silence. And then there was a large explosion of the ruckus of bad transmission, and silence again.  
  
-*-*-*-  
  
"Turn the lights on, you incompetent fool!" Dib screamed at the man, who was hastily working the utility box. Annoyed and certainly not welcoming being ordered around, he moved his grubby hands as slowly as he could while reconnecting the wires, just to piss the young scientist off. Dib sighed at first, for a few seconds of complete silence and absolute darkness ensued this, but then a huge surge burst through the entire laboratory building, and the entire place lit up with lights again.  
The man glanced at Dib now that it was light and the gamut of his appearance could be taken in, curious as to what he had just been doing. The boy was smeared entirely in a soft blue liquid, and his face was covered in the sweat of deep concentration. He even had carried a small silver tool in his hand, which the man noted was hidden deep within the boy's pockets after he had registered in his mind that it was still out. Word had it they had captured a monster... and though the rumor spread quickly throughout the entire plant among the workers who work /for/ the scientists, nothing had been confirmed.  
Dib, uttering curses under his breath, spun around, stomping back to the examination room. He swung the door open fiercely and stepped in, trying to hush the large commotion of worried and confused scientists. His ears caught glimpse of what they had been speaking of, their fear and paranoia gripping their minds and forcing their imaginations into a race.  
Finally, seeing that it really was of no use to quiet them down, pushed through the crowd to get to his father. Professor Membrane grimaced as he looked down at the empty table, shaking his head. The find of the century- gone. Done for. Laura, who was sitting cross legged on a chair on the other side of the table, was quietly scribbling down everything should could.  
"Put that report down," Dib snapped, not caring that she was, in actuality, his superior and in normal circumstances, he would be listening to her. However, this was no normal circumstance. This was his find, and it was his responsibility to lead it.  
Laura quickly shoved the pen into her pocket and looked up at Dib with large eyes, trying not to let the hysteria in the room poison her as well.   
"Zim cannot escape that easily," Dib finally said, slamming his fists on the table and looking up at his father. "I bet you Gaz has something-" He stopped when he saw his father's pained look, the reaction that came with the sound of the name, and then lowered his head. "Father, we've got to find Zim. Who knows that terror he'll unleash."  
"How?!" Laura snapped, standing up and throwing the papers aside. "Zim is far too injured to do any harm. By the way you were slicing at him..." she let herself trail off, crossing her arms. "I /knew/ the chief professor made a serious mistake by letting a child like /you/ take charge of something like this."  
"I am not a child!" Dib shrieked, his face flushing red, a vein pulsating out of his head. He snapped off one of the gloves and wiped his forehead from the sweat that had collected on it, his face burning.  
"Please. You're a spoiled brat that got leniency for being the top of his class in college, and graduating before everyone else," Laura continued, completely forgetting that Membrane himself was standing right there in her own anger. "You're fresh from college and you got lucky just like your sister did with that-"  
In a flash Dib had reached across the table, grabbing Laura by her neck and clenching his fist in a tight hold, hoping she would choke from it. "You don't ever talk about Gaz that way. Ever. I don't care if she is a traitor to this family, you will /not/ blacken the Membrane name by insulting her."  
"Enough of this bickering," Membrane finally spoke. Dib's breath was rough now, and his nose flared out of his anger. "Dib, let her go."  
Laura, the fear that had suddenly gripped her slowly fading away, nodded solemnly, and was thankful to breathe again once Dib had finally did just so. She rubbed her neck painfully, her cheeks flushed a deep red.  
"I'm sending out a team to find Zim," Membrane went on. His dark eyes darted up from Dib, to Laura, and back to Dib again. "Dib, you are to remain here. Your temper has made you insolent and brash."  
"And you are being irrational! I know Zim better than /any/ of those teams out there!" Dib yelled, gesturing to make his point.  
"I am your father and you will-"  
"My FATHER?!" Dib laughed cruelly. "No. No, you aren't. You were never there for me like a father should. The only reason you're here now is to share in the glory of my findings of Zim!"  
"That's not-" Professor Membrane began, but was immediately cut off.  
"That's exactly what it is," Dib sneered, snatching a dart from the utensil table, and pulling the tranquilizing gun from his coat pocket, loading it and then giving his 'father' a glare. "I'll find Zim. And Gaz. And I don't care what you do, I'm going to teach them both a lesson."  
"Dib, no-" Membrane began, but Dib had already pushed his way through the other scientists and left the room.  
  
-*-*-*-  
  
The old vootrunner cast a dim shadow on the ground, and was quickly swallowed up in the darkness as it edged away from the illuminating streetlight. Gaz squinted in the darkness, and then heard a clap of thunder from above.  
"God, please," she muttered as she gripped the handle and steered away from the street. "Please, please, please... not now..."  
She propelled herself into a threshold of trees, slowing down so she didn't slam into anything. The darkness here was almost impenetrable with the human eye, and only made matters worse. A hunched figure was huddled up behind her, carefully leaning on her back. The vootrunner made a sudden turn, and the figure shifted, but did not stir.  
"We're almost there, Zim," she whispered, and squinted to force her eyes to adjust more quickly to the darker, black velvet-like surroundings. The sky erupted in a flash of light, and suddenly she could see again- the trees, that loomed over her threateningly as if holding her back from her pain goal, the ground below her, which seemed an even bigger threat if she happened to fall, and the sky itself... a sky that had only become thicker as the time passed.  
She finally settled on a spot to land the vootrunner, and shut it off. Here was the perfect place. She turned around, and picked up the figure, which she had wrapped up in her cloak. He whispered something softly, but they were words she couldn't understand.  
She worked quickly with her hands, trying to type in the right controls while glancing over her back every so often in fear, thinking that they were right behind her. Slowly, her heart returned to it's normal bpm as she realized it was only the wind, weaving through the leaves and disrupting the silence.  
She looked up in the sky, wishing that tonight, the clouds wouldn't break. The imminent storm was a curse, and if she didn't get Zim in shelter in time...   
Gaz forced herself to pay attention to what she was doing to the vootrunner. Quickly, her hands manipulated the control box that had been installed in it. She shut her eyes, trying to think of what Zim had explained to her so long ago. The red... or the purple? Damn it, which one?!  
A sigh escaped her as she finished, and then she turned to Zim, scooping him up into her arms. She paused for a moment, gazing at him, and then held her grip firmly onto him. She became aware of a moisture, leaking through her dress, and realized it was coming from the cloak. Zim... he had a plethora of blood. "All this was Dib's fault...," she glowered.  
She bit her lip, a nervous habit she had picked up from somewhere, but at the moment could not think of where. "Focus on the task at hand..." she mumbled, and, securing Zim, was off in a run, headed for anywhere but here.  
Behind her, there was an explosion of light and color, and a pile of smoke slowly filtering into the air, the thick black haze filing up into the sky, only to join a thicker haze in the sky, preparing to break. The bright orange glow bled into the sky, and illuminated the air.  
  
-*-*-*-  
  
"Sir, we've found the escape unit, but there are no bodies. It is assumed that the suspects have escaped on foot," a tall, straggly-haired main was saying to his superior. He wore no badge, only a black outfit, with a heavy vest that fastened together in the front. His puny eyes, which only looked black, even in the glow of the fire behind him, searched the captain's face for any sign of emotion.  
The captain showed none. His broad chest heaved upward as he inhaled, the smell of smoke and ash filling his nostrils. He said nothing at first, finally speaking only after exhaling in the same, deep manner. "Fine. Gather up a unit and send a search team. Five in groups of five. Have them search this entire /city/, if they have to."  
"Yes sir," the man nodded, and then turned around to do as ordered.  
Dib crossed his arms, glaring at the scene, the fire burning in his bloodshot eyes and reflecting off his glasses. He tightened his coat around him and wheeled around, to be swallowed up by the darkness of the depths of the trees. He kept walking until he was finally out of the forest, and spotted a feeble, weak-looking officer standing most obviously under a street light, eyes darting over left and right, more quickly than what normal 'scanning' would be. Dib drew in a deep breath, jammed a hand in his pocket, and stepped forward.  
  
-*-*-*-  
  
Gaz had been running for too long, and anyone that heard her raspy breathing, her incessant need for gulps of air, and the worn look that was evident on her expression alone, could tell so.  
She looked up at the sky as another bolt ripped across the sky, followed by the thunder by a petty second. Cursing, she gazed around, knowing she wouldn't make it to the park now, and knowing that had been a stupid idea anyway.   
"Where else...?" she mumbled under her breath, her eyes passing over a trellis covered in vines and sappy decor, a huge oak that sat smack dab in the middle of someone's yard, and a car that looked like it hadn't been used for years. She walked over to the car and grabbed the handle as awkwardly as one could while holding someone in their arms, knowing it would probably be locked anyway- and she was right.  
"Do I really deserve this?" she muttered. As if the irony gods answered her, the entire sky lit up and the clouds burst, the Irken poison immediately falling to the ground thereafter. Gaz clenched Zim and panicked, knowing in a few seconds he would be in more pain than he probably already was in. Her eyes darted back to the trellis and immediately she shoved Zim under it, falling onto her knees as she did so, and trying to ignore the fact that she was already drenched and freezing from the lack of better clothes. Her muddy dress clinging to her body, she collapsed under herself, and momentarily pulled her cloak off of Zim, squeezing all the water out of it. Cautiously she draped it back over him, softly stroking his cheek with her hand.  
"It'll be over soon, Zim," she promised, and then her gaze looked up into the scene outside, and the hopeless situation they were in. She pulled her knees closer to her and buried her face in them.  
She slept.  
  
-*-*-*-  
  
"Gaz..."  
She woke up abruptly, blinking, and in anguish, thought, "How long have I been sleeping?" Her entire body ached, and she storm had yet to show any sign of stopping. Sighing, she glanced over at Zim, wondering what had waken her.  
His face was bent in anguish, and his eyes were partly opened. She stroked his cheek again, and his eyes shot open... he sat up abruptly... only to fall back on the ground again, cringing in pain.  
"Lay down, Zim," she whispered, and then softly touched his stomach, where the wound was.   
Zim shuddered, the pain almost to unbearable for consciousness alone. He opened his eyes at the response of her voice. She was... here? With him? What had happened? But his mind was so exhausted from everything else, he couldn't handle wanting to clarify what had happened. Right now, he had to focus on the moment. And in that moment... he felt someone's hand on his stomach, softly stroking it, and gazed up at Gaz, smiling briefly, and then frowning again, as the memories flooded him. He cringed and tried to push himself away. "No- no I already told you, Gaz, it..."  
She let the silence sink in for a moment and then shuddered from the cold, pushing her wet hair out of her face. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Zim. I didn't mean for this to happen. I was only trying to help."  
Zim was able to push himself upright, but he was losing blood quickly and there was too much pain coming from everywhere at once to define even a specific point. He rested his back in defeat on the wall of the house, huddling. "You lied to me."  
"I was trying to protect you!" she shrieked, suddenly, her voice being pulled into the wind and becoming lost in the storm. "I didn't want you to know that he was hunting you again! We were so happy... everything was so perfect..." She broke out into a sob and buried her face in her hands.  
He felt a tinge of guilt for being so angry with her. She had, after all, not betrayed him as he had thought. But he wanted to find someone to blame, and she was the only one around. Still... he took her hands into his gloved ones and stroked them lightly.  
This sent her crying even more, falling into his shoulder and shuddering every last drop of pain that was swelled up within her.  
"Don't think that I love you any less," he finally managed to whisper, freeing one of his hands to wrap around her shoulder. "You made a mistake and I can forgive you for that." He hoped his kind words were calm her down, but it only made it worse.  
"No- NO! I ruined everything. I ruined everything," she sobbed, unable to regain her composure.  
He pushed her away momentarily and grabbed her shoulders roughly. "Gaz, listen to me. You didn't ruin anything. We *beat* him, all right? We won."  
"How?" she said, her eyes drawing up to meet the Irken's large read pupils. "How did we beat him? You're dying, and I'm next. How did we beat him?"  
Zim's hand drew up to the chain around her neck, to the small charm, not answering at first. It was a little alien, the clichéd thing that it was, something he had given to her as a sort of poor humor. She hadn't taken it off since. He played with it for a moment and then sat it down again. "Because I still love you. And you still love me."  
"Damnit, Zim, that doesn't-"  
"Doesn't what?" he interrupted sharply. "Doesn't matter? Doesn't change anything? It changes everything. He's out to destroy what we have. And once he does, only then will he win."  
Gaz leaned forward, and the two met in a long kiss. Her hand brushed across his face, softly touching the wounds that lined his skin and would be more than likely to become scars. A bursting feeling spread throughout her insides, which conquered her mind, and her fears.  
  
-*-*-*-  
  
Dib squinted in the darkness, surveying the scene for exactly what it was- pitch black. How the hell could he see in this weather?! Grumbling, he shifted his weight and walked forward, his newest prize- the gun- secured to his belt. He had long ago shedded the bloody lab coat, and was now prepared for anything...  
If he could only find them.  
He cursed his sister. How could she do this to him? To his family? He sighed, rubbing his temples as he continued to walk across the paved street. There was not a soul in sight, and things would be so quiet, had it not been for the pouring rain, and the wind, and the thunder. In most circumstances, he would welcome this weather. It was the only thing that, for the strangest reason, lifted up his heart and this emotions. He didn't know why, but for what was supposed to be gloomy and depressing was actually uplifting and cheerful for him. He remembered, back when they were kids, and it had rained like this... Gaz and him would stay inside, and for once, they would sit on the couch and play one of the video games together. Gaz's choice, of course, but it was so rarely that she let him in on her life...  
But... that was over now. Dib wiped his face, not sure if the moisture was rain or tears. Gaz had chosen her own path. She was... different. He thought back to a saying his father used to say to his mother, when he commented on Dib's increasing interest in the science and biological field; something that had made both his parents very happy, because it was their fields as well. How, the apple never fell far from the tree... But that was then. Suddenly then things suddenly changed. It was all to blurry to remember, but he just knew there was Gaz's presence, and the lack of another. His mother...  
He never knew what happened. Never questioned his father when he would hide behind the subject with the excuse of work. Gaz never followed in her father's footsteps, or her mother's either, to say the least. She was no outstanding student, never really cared to pick up a microscope and look at the world around her. She was quite the opposite, in fact. Instead, she ignored the world, and let herself envelope in games. With his mother gone, Dib didn't even think his father cared about this.  
Dib thought to earlier, what he had thought just before Zim's examination. How... "they could have been a family again." It was a lie. Even if Gaz never did establish a relationship with Zim, she would never have wanted to be a part of this family anyway, not even if there was a chance. The apple couldn't fall far from the tree in her case, because she wasn't an apple to begin with. She was an outcast. An outcast to the family, and now a shame.  
A bright illumination of the quiet neighborhood jerked Dib from his thoughts, and his eyes immediately shot over to movement, next to a house that was as silent as the other residences- and just as dark. Was it movement? Or a trick of the eye? He walked in closer, this time hearing muffled voices. Yes... yes.  
His hand moved slowly to his pocket, clasped around the gun. He knew why his father didn't want to send him in the first place- because of something like this. But for once, Dib didn't care. Membrane /knew/ he was going to do something like this... better not disappoint him.  
He walked slowly over, hoping that the noise of him trudging over the moist, muddy grass wouldn't alarm them. But he realized he had nothing to worry about, because the storm was noise enough to conceal him. That, and the darkness.  
  
-*-*-*-  
  
Zim opened his eyes, and smiled at Gaz. He knew would eventually happen to him- and she knew it too. But to have her... here. He didn't care.   
Behind them, there click of a gun. Quickly they jerked at the movement, and Gaz spun around, squinting in the darkness. An unnecessary thing to do... because she knew who was standing there. And the burst of lighting from another strike of purple lightning off in the distance confirmed her fears.  
"Even in light, you're in darkness," Dib whispered softly as he loomed over them, weapon in hand. It was time to purge their family of all the poison, and all of the shame. And it was time to claim victory, to the last battle he would have to fight.  
  
  
The neighboorhood's silent air was destroyed as two shots shattered the air... a shatter which would not be heard as the storm hid it within it's own darkness.  



	4. Part Four: Wednesday

A/N: I dedicate this chapter to Steve and Amberle, who have willingly let me place them in this fic for the sole reason that I lacked creativity in naming. That was their mistake. Steve, for the reason in chapter 3, and Amberle, who just happened to be on the phone with me as I wrote this.   
I apologize for making Dib so evil. This last (yes, last. I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED A FIC!!! Now.. on to those other ones.. x.x) chapter is no different. Give me an evil glare if you must. And remember, I wrote this while I was in a bad mood. And bad moods have their disturbing moments. Happy disturbing moments :)... so please don't start raging riots to rip my brains out and set me on fire. Besides... I think this chapter is happier than all the other ones.  
Oh, and it's very important that you remember the first paragraph in the first chapter, and the fact that everything happened 3 months ago, this now being the present.  
  
Part Four: Wednesday  
  
*****Present*****  
  
"Move it!" yelled a raspy voice.  
Gaz's eyes fluttered open, and she blinked away the fatigue of sleep for a moment, being drawn back into reality. She sat up, coming face to face with the old man from across the hallway. He had wrinkled features that gathered on every inch of his skin, skin flaky-white, resembling saltine crackers, seeming to turn to dust from a simple touch. Icy eyes lacking pigmentation searched the plum-haired girl back and forth.  
"The couch is mine," Gaz sneered back cruelly, not in the mood to have her relaxing day ruined by him.  
"No... You always have the couch!" he whined childishly. "Today it is mine!"   
"The couch is MINE, Mr. Oakston," Gaz repeated, this time more forcibly. He cowered under her glare, and at once she was ashamed of herself for having such a bad temper.  
"Can't you at least let Darla have the couch?" He gestured toward the air beside him. "She is feeling ill today." Mr. Oakston's eyes softened, and his barely visible white-haired eyebrows curled up in a pitiful expression. "For today?"  
Gaz sighed and stood up. "All right... you and Darla can have the couch." She waited until Oakston had sat down and then pointed at the empty seat beside him. "But Darla, I want you feeling better tomorrow, okay?"  
"Darla thanks you," Oakston responded.  
Gaz smiled, brushing off her cotton gown, deciding to explore the room. Today things were generally quiet. The shuddered cries and screaming that came from the dark end of the hall weren't there today, nor was that horrid pounding drum that played in the morning- not even the one in her head. And only a small whisper spoke to her from inside her mind, but she usually ignored that one anyway so it wasn't really a problem..  
"I think I'll visit Birdy," she mumbled under her breath, walking over to Mrs. Ella's rocking chair. "How is she today?" she asked Mrs. Ella, kneeling down and rubbing her fingers softly across the top of the head of the plush cotton ferret. Birdy's glass eyes simply stared up at her, and it's stitched mouth seemed to curl up into a smile.  
Mrs. Ella looked up at Gaz, and her face instantly brightened. "Oh, hello Gaz," she smiled. "Birdy is doing so well today! Mrs. Ella believes she shall receive a special treat!"  
"Good," Gaz said, pausing from petting Birdy to pat Mrs. Ella's back. "You be good today too, Mrs. Ella. I don't want Steve complaining about you not taking your medicine."  
"Mrs. Ella don't like them," Mrs. Ella complained, jerking away from Gaz's touch. She pouted and stuck out her bottom lip. "And Birdy doesn't not-not like them either."  
"Now, Ella," Gaz said sternly, standing back up as she did so. "Today's too nice of a day to be bad. We must be relaxed."  
"Relaxed...," Mrs. Ella repeated thoughtfully. She touched noses with Birdy's button nose and grinned foolishly. "Birdy says he'll be relaxed today, and make sure Mrs. Ella is relaxed too." She peered suspiciously at Gaz. "Will you be relaxed?"  
"Yes," Gaz nodded, pushing her hair back behind her ear. "I will."  
She walked away and searched the room, looking for her other friends. It was still early and a lot of people seemed to be asleep again, even though they had ventured out here not just half an hour ago. She spotted Eric over by the window and decided to visit him, but as soon as she took a step forward she began to feel dizzy. She paused, and pressed her hands against the soft, pillow-like walls as the room spun for a moment, giggling furiously as it did so. It almost reminded her of a roller coaster! But soon, the room was back to normal. "At least I can relax now," she thought as she continued on her way, her soft slippers brushing against the clean linoleum floor.  
"Gaz," she heard a sharp voice from across the room, and spun around to see Steve was calling her. She took off toward him, the thought of Eric instantly leaving her mind. She liked Steve. He wore far too much white, and a patch with his name in blue, printed right on his shirt. She still liked him, though. Except on Wednesdays, but she didn't like anyone on Wednesdays anyway, and today was Saturday. Saturday, the thirty second of February... or at least that's what Amberle (the girl she shared a room with) said that's what today was anyway. So really, she liked everyone today. Because it wasn't a Wednesday. It was a Saturday.  
She ran into Steve's arms, hugging him. "Steve! I was worried you wouldn't come today."  
Steve laughed, and she felt the vibration as she buried her head in his chest. "Silly child... I always come."  
"Yeah..." she whispered softly. Did he just call her child? She didn't care. He was /here/, and that's all that mattered. "But one day you might not. And then what will I do?"  
Steve embraced her for a moment. "I'll always come. I care about you like that. You're a good friend to me."  
"But Dib cares about me," she mumbled, closing her eyes and clasping her fingers around the small chain in her neck, and pulling slightly away from Steve, a concerned look on her face. "And he doesn't visit me every day."  
"Well..." Steve's grin betrayed everything. "I have a surprise for you, then..."  
Gaz leapt out of Steve's arms, and spun around on the floor (cotton and linoleum are good for spinning), arms in the air. "I bet you I know the surprise!" She stopped and gave Steve her puppy dog eyes. "Can I have it /now/ please?"  
Steve nodded, eyes shining, gesturing toward the door, and Gaz gave a joy leap as her eyes fell upon her brother, who stood just beyond the glass of the two waiting rooms. She raced to the door where Jack stood- Jack, who had clothes just like Steve (except his shirt had J-A-C-K in blue) smiled at the vibrant young girl. He reached into his pocket for the keys, as Gaz excitedly burst into a smile, trying to get a closer look at her brother beyond the glass.  
Steve looked after Gaz as she had ran toward the door, sighing softly. It really was sad what had happened to her... and she was so young. In her early twenties, actually.  
She had her entire life before her, but then there was the accident...  
Steve shook his head, deciding to tend to the other patients. No time to reflect on that now. He was supposed to be prepared for situations like this. But he could not help gaze back up at her, and smile in her joy... despite having the mentality of a ten year old, she seemed to have been the lucky one in the accident.  
But that was from Steve's perspective.  
  
-*-*-*-  
  
A shiny black car slowly pulled up in front of the building, the windows heavily tinted, and a strange silver 'M' on the hood of the car. It glinted in the sunlight just before halting under the shade.  
A man, dressed heavily in clothes that matched the car, stepped out from inside, and then pausing as another man, dressed exactly the same, yet having a trench coat draped around his shoulders, followed. They shut the doors quickly behind them.  
"How is she, today?" Dib asked, pulling off his trench coat as he stepped inside the building, brushing his hair back with his hand. His dark eyes searched the room as he continued on down the long hallway toward the room- his destination.  
"They said she was in an exceptionally good mood when they called for the status report," the man responded, attempting to match Dib's quick pace but finally residing behind him once he realized the hall was far too small for that.  
"Has the treatment been completed?" Dib asked sharply, cutting straight to business. His assistant, Mr. Johnson, was the only person that knew his secret, and thus earning the job as his personal assistant. But Dib knew enough about Mr. Johnson's own 'secret life', that it had been an even trade when the need for such a job came up.  
"Yes," Johnson answered quickly, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "It seems to have no effect on her mentality... however, she is becoming more and more manageable."  
"It had better be taken care of fully. I don't want any more... accidents, like last time," Dib said coldly.  
"She's in perfect health. Minus the condition."  
"Don't... don't use that word," Dib said, his face twisting in disgust. "I don't like that word."  
"Yes sir," Johnson nodded.  
They had finally reached the end of the hallway, the mere look of the huge metal door that now blocked further excursion sending chills up his spine. He typed in a security code in the panel next to it, and the sound of air diffusing out of the room could be heard rushing out of the open space as it slowly slid open.  
"Good to see you today, Professor," one of the patrols remarked upon seeing his entrance. Dib nodded his way and continued, the officer getting a slight shiver from the look that was given to him. There was something not right about this boy... Yet... it was not his place to question him. He turned and left without another thought.  
Dib sat down, glancing beyond the glass doors and observing that they had yet to inform Gaz of his arrival. He turned to Johnson in the meantime.  
"You do realize that it's been exactly three months since the... first accident."  
Johnson nodded numbly, suddenly uncomfrotable standing there, remembering every small detail that had been told to him. About the Professor's first experiment that had been given to him even before he had become of such a status. The experiment that this girl had... become acquainted with.  
Dib studied Johnson's face, knowing exactly what he was thinking about. He thought about the nightmarish sequence as well... it played out in his head for so many nights after that, traumatizing him, but only making him stronger. A professor in the field such as he must be cold. Must be heartless. It was supposed to be this way. After years of fighting Zim... it was what he had become. And when he finally won, it was all he knew how to be.  
He thought back to that night, standing in the storm... gazing down at his hands, at the gun. Realizing what he had done.  
The first bullet impaled Zim's head as quickly as it had left the gun, killing him on impact. But Dib didn't realize what he was doing as he pulled the trigger a second time. He hadn't meant to hit Gaz- he wasn't even aiming for her. But whether it was my a movement of her head... or his hand... or even possibly by ricochet... it scraped her cerebral cortex...  
Dib cringed at this memory, seeing the blood flow, having to remember the look of utter shock that Gaz had gave him before falling unconcious... Dib had fallen to his knees, realizing in horror what he'd done. Dully, he pulled out his cell phone to call the paramedics. His eyes fell to Zim, but despite all the things that were racing in his mind at the moment, and all he felt, he seemed to be able to think clearly, and realized that if the medical officials saw him, they would ask questions that Dib couldn't... that Dib /wouldn't/ answer. He took the gun, and Zim, and broke the glass of the window of the car that was sitting by the road. Throwing them both inside, he lit in on fire. Or at least tried to. Truth was, it was far too wet to light anything in this weather.  
As if his prayers had been answered, the rain slowly lit up. Not completely, but enough to put the car ablaze in seconds... and destroyed all evidence at once. He threw the lighter in after it.  
Why did he even have a lighter with him? he had wondered, but that was the least of his problems now. He had knelt by Gaz, then, sobbing softly, running his fingers through her hair but trying not to move her. Where did they go wrong? They were never really close... not often. But he had trusted her... and even when she had betrayed the family, he still loved her.  
The paramedics arrived in what seemed an eternity, but probably a time span of under three minutes. Dib was pushed back, as blankly he stared at the EMTs quickly rushing to get Gaz on the life support system, rushing her into the ambulance, rushing her to the hospital. Everything was a rush... and they had saved her life because of it.  
But she was never the same after that.  
"Dib!" chirped a voice beyond the glass window, breaking him from his horrid reflections that may as well had been nightmares. Gaz entered the patient's waiting room at that moment, her voice resounding throughout and even carrying on into the microphone set up in front of her.  
"Hello, Gaz," his expression softened, and he took a seat in front of her. "How is my little sister today?"  
/That's odd.../ Gaz thought. /He looks sad today. Oh well. I'll cheer him up!/ "Everything's great. I got to take a nap in the sun today, and after that I let Darla have a turn on the sofa! I visited Birdy too, and the room got a little dizzy after that, but it was fun. And then I was going to go visit Eric, but Steve called me over and said he had a surprise. And guess what?! The surprise is you!"  
Dib broke out into a laugh at that, but it was a soft chuckle, and he didn't even seem to make the effort in the laugh. It had been such a long time since he'd laughed, that his own voice sounded foreign to him. Gaz didn't notice this, however, she only grinned, eyes shining, and gazed wonderingly at her brother. "Today isn't your normal day to come, though."  
"Oh, I know," Dib piped up, leaning toward the glass. "But I wanted to see how you were doing."  
"Oh!" Gaz grinned. "Well, you came just in time to meet Arlington! But.... you'd have to come back here," he expression saddened. Dib never went beyond the glass separation. Ever.  
"Arlington...?" Dib repeated, but shook his head. It was better not to ask, but he was unsure of what to bring to the conversation, now. He didn't need to worry about that, however, because Gaz began to bubble up in chatter, none of her sentences strung coherently. She did that every once in awhile, a result from the accident, and it was natural for anyone listening to simply tune her out. Dib did so, blankly staring off to space with only past memories to accompany him.  
"And then this necklace this one Zimmy boy gave me-" she went on, and Dib's ears perked up, catching the sentence instantly.  
"/What/ did you just say?" he cut in to her rambling, a voice so cold that it stopped her immediately.  
"I... I... I don't know," Gaz whispered, recognizing the need for fear.   
/She looks as if she's about to cry/ Dib thought, sighing. He tried to lighten his tone a bit as he continued. "You said a name. That name that I told you to forget." Dib took this moment to glare up at Johnson, who looked stricken with horror. /Good/ Dib thought. /He realizes just how deep in trouble he is./  
"I... I don't remember," Gaz said softly, twitching and nervously grabbing the chain with her hands. "I... I was talking about the chain, and then who gave it to me, and then I started talking about soc-"  
"/Who/ gave you the necklace, Gaz?" Dib's voice immediately slipping back into the cold voice as it had before.  
"You... you did," her lip was quivering, now. Why was her brother acting so angrily? Did she say something wrong? She must have. "I'm sorry, Dib I didn't mean to-"  
"That wasn't the name you said, Gaz. You didn't say Dib. You said another name," Dib continued, cutting into her last remark. "What name was that, Gaz?"  
Gaz hand's shook, and immediately she dropped the necklace. She tried to think back at what she was saying, but she had been talking so fast, she couldn't. Her head began to hurt as she did so. "Please don't be mad at me. I don't remember. I don't." She burst into tears, and the guards were looking at the two now in silent curiosity.  
Solemnly, Dib shook his head. He'd better drop this before it got out of hand. "It's all right, Gaz. /You/ didn't do anything wrong."  
He glared up at Johnson, momentarily standing to push him out of range from the microphone. "I thought you said the treatment was over, Johnson," Dib sneered, giving Johnson a glare that made him recoil in fear.   
"I apologize, sir, I thought... I thought it was! We examined her through and out, doing exactly what you told us to do."  
"I told you to purge her of all memories of Zim. All of them! And you can't even follow something as simple as-"  
"Sir, we did the best we could," Johnson said, exasperated.  
Dib looked back at Gaz, who had lowered her head now, thinking she had done something wrong. "You realize... she cannot remember anything about her encounters with that alien. Ever since his death... she was so hung up on it. And with her cond-" he stopped himself, teeth gritting at the word. "With her /ailment/, it only made things worse. Every train of thought was on him. Every memory she went into excruciating detail of mumbling to herself. I asked you to do a simple job, and you screw it up!"  
"Please... please. Sir, I'm sure another scheduled purgation will remove all of the memories. She doesn't seem to remember fully, it may possibly be an unconscious thing-"  
"Unconscious or not, I don't want to hear it," Dib whispered harshly. He turned back and sat down, rubbing his temples. One day... he couldn't take this pressure. The strain from memorizing that night was almost too much for him. In a way... he envied Gaz. She didn't have to be tormented from living day to day with those images. With the feeling of defeat, even when it was /he/ who had won in the first place.  
His victory over Zim was shallow... it was worthless at the cost that it came with. And he had awakened the next day, realizing it was still just another day. Years of toiling, of working to destroy him...  
...and when he succeeded, he was just as empty as before.  
A soft cry from Gaz brought Dib back to reality. He put his hands over the microphone, and looked up at Johnson. "Schedule another one for next Wednesday."  
"Yes, sir."  
Dib leaned to the microphone, speaking gently now, a benevolent smile crossing his face. "Gaz... Gazzy, I'm so sorry. You know I still care about you, kid."  
Gaz looked up, a hopeful look in her eyes. "You mean... you're not mad at me?"  
"No... no, of course not. I'm sorry I scared you."  
She smiled, wiping her face and then leaning toward the glass, pressing her hand against it. "I love you, Dib."  
Dib pressed his own hand against the glass. "I love you too, Gaz. Now go... go see Arlington. I'm sure he's anxious to meet you."  
She smiled, relieved, and stood up. "You're leaving again?"  
"Yeah," Dib nodded. "But I'll be back again later on this week, okay? Me and dad have some work to do."  
Gaz nervously picked at her nails, and her eyes drew up to Dib. "Why doesn't daddy visit me? Doesn't he love me?"  
Dib's inside churned at this. She had struck at a weak spot in him without even realizing it... Their father couldn't handle the accident as much as he could handle their mother's. He almost lost his mind, himself, but now he just seemed... lost. And piled on more work to get his mind off of it. Dib no longer was the shining star in his father's life anymore, but at least they still spent time together. Doing practices in the science field, of course, but still... Still, their conversations were never the same. They were empty things, words used to fill in the silence. He didn't even think his father had forgiven him for what he had done.  
Dib drew his attention back to her, trying to pass off his sudden pained look for a smiling one. "Dad doesn't have that much time... he's very busy. You know, since he is a great scientist and all."  
"Just like you," Gaz beamed. She brushed her hair out of her face and smiled. "Bye-bye, Dib."  
"Goodbye." Dib picked up his trench coat and put it on, walking calmly out, and Johnson quickly following.  
Gaz looked back after him as he left, tugging at the chain with her hand and then going back into the door, that led her into her own world. The world that she accepted, that she had believed she had always been in.  
She sat on the couch, for Darla and Mr. Oakston had left, her fingers sliding up and down the empty chain, devoid of any charms of any kind. But it had always been that way to her. She didn't feel like seeing Arlington. Not today. Desperately, she tried to think of the name that had upset her brother so. Tried to grasp at it... but gave up, sighing softly, letting her head rest from the thought process.  
She stood up and decided that now it would be a good time to go talk to Eric.  
  
End.  



End file.
